The continuous pounding of the drums matched Chloe's heartbeat perfectly as the broken bottle approached her exposed neck.
She had never believed she would make it to Firewalks show at the mill, and now that she was there, she was sure she was going to die. Or at least wind up very injured and thrown in a ditch. She didn't know which outcome she preferred, but she was silently hoping that it would be neither.
The tall drunk looking man brought the broken bottle closer to Chloe's face until the broken pieces practically touched her lips. It smelled awful, like toxic garbage and waste rolled into a single drink.
The glass had started to touch her cheek when all of a sudden she heard footsteps. It was hard to hear over the pounding music shaking the mill, but she thought she could hear someone approaching.
"Hey! Dickhead!"
The two men and Chloe all turned over to the broken staircase, to find a girl standing there looking quite pissed off. The girl looked about Chloe's age, and an entire lifetime prettier than her as well. Her skin was glowing from the lights coming from the show.
Chloe glanced at the men, seeing both of them momentarily distracted by the girl. It wouldn't be long before they snapped out of their shock attacked both of them, so Chloe quickly acted by a single kick to the one of the guy's crotch.
Just like that, the guy folded over and clutched what could've been a now very painful crotch. In anger, the other guy who must've been the dude's friend punched Chloe right in the face. Blinding pain took over her face, but only for a moment as she quickly ran to the girl by the stairs. It didn't feel like he actually wound up his punch, so Chloe determined that it would only sting for a while and leave one hella bruise for her mom to get pissed off at.
As she ran to the stairs, she bumped into the girl and turned to look over at her.
When their eyes connected, Chloe gasped in surprised seeing who it was.
Rachel freaking Amber.
She must've been dreaming right now because the last person Chloe expected to see tonight was the queen of Blackwell herself. She figured that someone like Rachel would be to busy hanging out with the vortex club or practicing for her play that she was one of the leads in. She never expected that Rachel would actually decide to come to the loud and brash mill, rocking it out as Firewalk played in the background.
Chloe was quite shocked that Rachel's alternative rock persona looked quite different from her normal prestigious and well-kept self. Her hair was done in a wild ponytail, and necklaces upon necklaces wrung down her white neck. The clothes she wore were very… loud to say that least, but they actually looked quite nice on her.
And of course, she still had the crystal blue feather as her earring that Chloe had seen countless times.
Both of the girls stared at each other in astonishment before the man stood up and started to chase them.
"Come on!" Rachel said.
The moment Rachel grabbed Chloe's hand and ran with her down the steps, she was even more confident that she was dreaming. There was no way any of this was real and she was just sleeping in bed after a long day of bullshit school.
But everything felt so real and alive as they flew down the stairs together, bouncing up and down the steps and rushing toward the crowd. It felt as if Chloe was flying away.
As they ran toward the crowd, Chloe caught Frank sitting alone quietly on the couch smoking some pot. She slowed and stared at him, which seemed to catch his attention long enough for him to understand what was happening.
When the two men came down the stairs fuming and spewing out countless insults, Frank instantly understood what he had to do. He simply stood up and blocked their path, angering them more.
"Back off!" Frank said.
"Not gonna happen!" one of the men shouted.
"Let it go, both of you!" Frank said.
Chloe watched in surprise as Frank actually intervened between the two men. It showed a little bit that there was a soft side to the hardened drug dealer that she had come to know, which was a good thing to know since she never really did believe he was completely sane. Seeing how Frank had the situation under control, Chloe quickly went into the jumbled crowd with Rachel. Not before sticking up her finger to show her appreciation as she was dragged in.
The crowd was wild as the girls ventured into the territory, as adults and teens bumped and kicked Rachel and Chloe along the way. Screams were loud, cheers were heard, and dancing was a common thing for people to do. While everyone was just simply jumping around though, it didn't matter, and no one seemed to care either.
Here no one cared who you were, all they cared about was the music.
Chloe's heart pounded with excitement as the lights on the stage got brighter and brighter, a smile entering her face as Rachel continued to drag her deeper into the pit. People's laughs and screams only excited the two girls more, as they quickly rushed into the front row. Everything that had happened a few moments ago seemed to no longer exist as the music began to grow louder and powerful.
Chloe gasped when they finally arrived up at the front. There they were, Firewalk themselves rocking out and jumping as they jammed with their instruments. The drums shook the mill, the electric guitar scorched the air, and the lights invaded the hearts of the participants there. Everything was loud and bright, and fresh as Chloe just instantly started to dance to the tune without a care in the world.
No one watched her, and she watched no one else. The last few seconds with those men were a thing of the past now as Chloe jumped and kicked around to the tune. For the first time in a long while, Chloe was happy and excited to be somewhere.
Especially with Rachel.
Besides herself, Chloe only watched Rachel as they both danced to the beat of the song. She was just jumping and thrashing around, rocking her head to the beat and cheering along with everyone else. There was a huge smile on her face, something that Chloe had never seen before when she passed her in the halls of Blackwell.
She had no idea Rachel knew how to get her rock on, but there she was watching the straight-A student actually jumping around and jamming to the beat. Not to mention she just saved her life mere moments ago. Did that all really happen to her in a few seconds?
Chloe decided not to answer the question. After all, she was jumping to the beat of the ever-growing song done by her favorite band. Why should she think about anything else instead of doing what she came to do?
She was going to party all night long.
The music increased in sound; the cheers grew louder. Chloe felt the beat rising her off the ground as dust escaped into the air. People bumped and crashed into her, but she didn't care and continued dancing. She yelled into the night without a care in the world and danced with Rachel Amber until the stars grew dim.